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Arrest made in Mexico in 2010 death of David Hartley of Greeley

By Jessica FenderThe Denver Post

Posted:
10/08/2012 12:36:26 PM MDT

Updated:
10/08/2012 06:44:44 PM MDT

As seen in this October 2010 file photo, Texas game wardens constantly patrol Falcon Lake for any kind of illegal activity whether it be drug trafficking or illegal fishing. They are only allowed on the United States side of the border. (Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post file)

Tiffany Hartley talks with the media at her parents home in LaSalle, Colo., in this October 2010 file photo. (Ed Andrieski, AP)

The family of David Hartley, shot in 2010 while jetskiing on a lake that straddles the U.S.-Mexico border, say they're treating with caution news that authorities have a regional cartel chief in custody for the slaying.

What they really want is the return of Hartley's body, which was never recovered from Falcon Lake, said his sister Nikki Hartley.

"In a way, it's a kind of justice. But what's most important to us is getting him back home," Nikki Hartley said. "It's a bunch of mixed emotions right now."

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Mother-in-law Cynthia Young, who lives in La Salle, said she and daughter Tiffany Hartley first heard about the arrest of Salvador Alfonso Martinez Escobedo from media outlets.

They're waiting to gather additional information before making any public statements, Young said.

It's not the first time suspects have been identified in connection with Hartley's murder.

In October 2010, Mexican media outlets reported a possible link to two brothers with suspected involvement in a number of cartel-related crimes including piracy on Falcon Lake.

A few days later, the severed head of a Mexican police commander investigating the case was discovered in a suitcase.

Speculation that cartel sentinels mistook Hartley for a rival gang member abounded in the early days of the investigation, as did accusations that Mexican authorities weren't taking the case seriously enough.

Hartley's death became a painful reminder of the drug war raging just across the U.S. border and a rallying point for law enforcement advocating greater efforts to quell the violence.

Nikki Hartley said the family recently marked the two-year anniversary of her brother's death in a more private manner than last year's vigil, but that the tragedy has been weighing heavily on their hearts lately.

"We've been down this road several times in the last couple of years," Nikki Hartley said Monday. "You're cautious about getting your emotions too tied up until you know for sure."

Authorities also suspect Martinez is behind the 2010 slaying of 72 migrants in Tamaulipas as well as other killings and prison breaks in northern Mexico.

A Texas sheriff told CNN that Martinez wasn't on a list of five suspects' names that he has handed over to the FBI.

"Based on the information I have, he may have been the one responsible for that area, but not the one responsible for the actual killing," said Sigifredo Gonzalez, sheriff of Zapata County, Texas.

"If this is, in fact, true that he was involved, it's a welcome sign that the Mexican government is trying to solve the killing of yet another American citizen on Mexican soil," Gonzalez said.

David Michael Hartley and his wife Tiffany Hartley in a personal photo. Hartley was shot and killed by Mexican pirates on Falcon Reservoir which straddles the U.S. Mexico border. (Courtesy of the Hartley family)

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